Stolen
by Fire and Chaos
Summary: Two teenage girls wake up in the middle of nowhere, and they don't know who they are. When a group of people ask the girls to travel with them, not only do they agree to go, but also -without knowing it- agree to the consequences. These consequences may change their small lives forever.
1. Chapter 1

I slowly blinked my eyes open to a bright blue sky. The soft, comforting clouds almost made me go back to sleep. But I didn't. I guess you could say that I'm one of those people who can't go back to sleep once they wake up. Well, I am one of those people.

I rubbed the tips of my fingers on the surface beneath me. Rocks. I was sleeping on rocks. I sat up and turned my head. I was in a canyon. How did I end up in a canyon? My best friend was laying a few feet away from me, still asleep. Then it clicked; I don't know her name. I know her, I definitely know her. Just not her name.

I tried to remember what happened before I ended up here. I was in my house, along with my friend-whatever her name is-and my family, and we were talking. A man came in, and my mother went to go talk to him, and then he looked at me, and then-blank. Everything after that is blank.

I started freaking out. How come I can't remember anything? Where the hell am I?

I told myself that I knew some things. I told myself to calm down. I started racking up a list of things in my head that I know; I live in the southern Water Tribe. I have three brothers, one sister, and a mom and dad-none of whom I know the names of. I am 17 years old. My favorite color is green. I am a water-bender.

I calmed down. Looks like I'm not completely hopeless after all.

The slightly uneven breathing patterns of my friend told me that she had waken up. She barely opened her eyes, then immediately covered them with her hands.

"Bah, sunshine," she moaned. "Sunshine is evil." I rolled my eyes but laughed none-the-less. She sat up and rubbed the side of her head. "Where are we?" she asked through her yawns.

"I don't know," I said. And then I asked it; "Do you know your name?" At first she looked at me like I had two heads. But then her face showed something else; fear.

"Oh my god. I don't know my name," she said, eyes wide. "I seriously don't know my name."

"Don't freak out," I said. "I don't either. But you can remember other things right? You have a brother, a mom, a dad, you're sixteen, your favorite color is midnight blue, you come from the Fire Nation, you're a fire-bender." She nodded absentmindedly.

People think it's weird because I'm friends with someone from the Fire Nation. It might be because we're opposite elements, but I'm pretty sure it's because the Fire Nation is, 'ya know, evil. But she's not a typical fire-bender. She's going against her own nation. She and her family. No one from the Fire Nation knows that though. Only me and my family. We understand.

Once she was back to her normal state, she asked "What do we do now?"

I answered with the only response I knew;

"I have no idea."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, still getting used to this whole fanfiction writing online thing...anyway, I'm Chaos. Tis my first book online. Sorry I didn't put a little A/N thingy in chapter 1. Oh, well. Like I said, still getting used to it. Anyway, to chapter 2! (Please review. Nicely.)

Katara's POV:

I looked over the side of Appa at the clouds. I can't believe we were being chased by Zuko. Again. I don't get why he just doesn't give up. I know he wants the Avatar and all, but his own father banished him. He just needs to find something else to do with his life.

I turned around to find Sokka taking a nap. Typical. Taking a nap right after he woke up. Toph was just sitting there. She looked at me when she 'felt' me or whatever.

"So, what do we do now?" she asked. Aang, hearing her, went from Appa's head to his saddle to talk to us.

"Now we just look for a firebender teacher for me," he said, smiling.

"What he said," I said. "The last one didn't turn out well."

"Yeah," Aang added. "Sorry again about burning you." Aang's first firebending teacher was more concerned on concentration and breathing and stuff, and Aang didn't like too much. He got impatient. So when he tried firebending for the first time, he burned me. On accident. I healed myself though, so it's okay now. After, we went to take a break in some village and of course Zuko found us and we had to run again. That's why we're flying now.

I showed Aang my palms. "It's fine," I said. "See? Perfectly fine." He nodded, but didn't look satisfied. Then Toph spoke up.

"But do you guys have a plan? Or are you just wandering around, hoping some random miracle will come along and slap you in the face?"

"Umm, the second one?" Aang guessed.

"Wrong choice," Toph replied. "You guys really need a plan."

"What are we supposed to do?" I said. "We can't just walk into the Fire Nation and ask the first person we see, 'Hey, can you teach the Avatar firebending?' That wouldn't end well."

"I don't know!" she snapped back. "You guys are the smart ones!" I rolled my eyes and turned back to look at the clouds. But they were gone. Instead there was a canyon.

"Hey, guys, come look at this canyon," I said, waving my hand. Aang shot over to the edge. Toph stayed where she was, having not being able to, like, see. "Sokka, come on, you can't sleep forever." I started shaking him. He waved me off.

"Go away. Sleep now. Work later."

"Okay. You asked for it." I waterbended water out of the nearest cloud and splashed it on his face. He sat up, coughing.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"You refused to wake up." Before he could say something back, I heard Toph's voice.

"Can we land? So I can see the canyon thingie?"

"Yeah, sure," Aang said, and hopped back onto Appa's head. With a moan, Appa flew back onto the ground.

"Woah, this is cool," Toph said.

"Yeah, sure," Sokka responded.

"Cheer up."

"Hey, Katara, come look at this," I heard Aang say. I walked over to where he was standing. "Do you see that?" He pointed to two specks in the distance.

"Yeah," I said.

"What do you think it is?" he asked. Before I could respond, Toph said

"Guys, there are two people all the way back there," and pointed to the specks Aang was talking about.

I looked at him. "Well, my guess is that they're people."

"Well, lets go say hi," he said, and hopped back onto Appa. We followed.

Some teenage girl's POV:

I looked around. We were in the middle of nowhere. We were stranded. Plus it was really hot. Sweat began to form on the back of my neck. My friend was equally as hot, because she layed back down and covered her face with her hands. There was no wind to even cool us off. Nor was there a cloud to cover the sun for a couple seconds. Well, there was one. I saw the shadow move across us. I laughed because it was in the shape of a bison. But then it turned around. And it's legs moved. So, no. This wasn't a cloud.

I looked up and saw that there was a flying bison right above us. And there were people on it. Yes, real people. I quickly scurried over to show my friend.

"Hey, wake up," I said, shaking her.

"What…" she moaned.

"There's a flying bison in the sky! With people on it!" She sat up immediately, and came very close to whacking me in the head.

"WHAT?!" she screamed.

"Look!" I pointed to the sky. She blinked a couple times and rubbed her eyes. Before she could have time to process it, it was already on the ground. I took a couple steps back as people started jumping off of the bison and running towards us. I lost my balance and almost fell over. My friend was frozen. What if they were evil? What if they knew that she was defying the Fire Nation and were coming to make her pay the price? What if….

The girl in the front of the group of people saw that I was backing away and motioned for the others to slow down. One of the guys in the group had arrows running from his head to his feet, and trailing down his arms. Airbender. But then that must mean that he's…

"We're not going to hurt you," he said. "I'm the Avatar." I'm pretty sure that my friend was about to pass out, because she turned a sheet of white.

The girl in the front and another boy were both from the Southern Water Tribe-I could tell by their clothing. We were wearing the same thing. A shorter girl with black hair had eyes that were grey. She was blind. But how could she see? I closed my eyes and shook my head. I was going insane. The heat was probably driving me crazy. Flying bison, the Avatar...and a lemur too. Yep. Going insane.

I saw 'the Avatar' giving my friend odd looks. Her clothing probably caused suspicion.

The Avatar took a step towards her. "Are...are you from the Fire Nation?" he asked. She glared at him.

"Yes." His eyes widened, and he glared at the girl next to him.

"She's not evil, though," I explained, since she obviously wasn't going to. I took a protective step towards her, but the gave me a look that said 'I can protect myself', so I stepped back.

"Me and my family disagree with what the Fire Nation is trying to do, but we keep it in secret so we won't get punished." She stood up. "I hate the Fire Nation."

He took a relieving breath in.

"Well that's good. Can you firebend?" She looked down.

"Because my family's going against the Fire Nation, they refused to let me get a teacher, for fear that I would become too connected and side with them. No one else in my family can firebend, so I haven't ever really had 'proper' training or whatever. I've just been teaching myself, which isn't much." A disappointing look washed over his face.

"Oh." Before it could get too silent, the girl next to the Avatar said,

"My name is Katara, by the way. This is Aang." She motioned to the Avatar.

"I'm Sokka, her brother," the water tribe boy said from behind his sister.

"Toph," the blind girl said. "And I can see with my feet, so I'm not completely blind,"she explained.

"Earthbender?" I guessed.

"Yep." Katara, looking satisfied, continued the conversation.

"What are your names?" I turned my head and gave a hopeful look at my friend. She just shrugged.

"Umm...well…." I struggled to find the words. "We don't know." Toph gave us a look.

"What do you mean, 'you don't know'?"

"We just don't know. Not even how we got here. The last thing I remember was that I was visiting her house, and then we saw a man, and then-blank. Nada. Nothing. We just ended up here. We still remember other things, just not names." My friend looked away after she said the words.

"Well, you're here now," Aang said. "Just make up some names."

My friend smiled. She has always wanted to change her name. "Yoake," she said. smiling. I thought about it.

If I had to change my name, it would have to be perfect. Something I would love to keep for the rest of my life. I immediately thought up my favorite letters. Z, y, s, c, l. Okay, no c. Now, if I had to make a work out of those letters, it would be…

"Sylaz," I said. Sokka looked at me.

"Doesn't that sound a bit Fire Nationey?" he said.

I glared at him. "Sokka," Katara said. Then she smiled at me. "I like it."

"So, which water tribe are you from?" Aang asked. "If you are southern, you would come from Katara's tribe! And you could waterbend together! And teach me too!"

"But she's not," Katara said. "Our village is not that big, and like I said, I'm the only waterbender in the whole south pole."

"That's not entirely true," I explained. She widened her eyes.

"Really? How?"

"Well, way back when, a group of people decided that if anything bad happened, let's say a war started or something, there would be a chance that everything would be ruined. So they decided that if they concealed a group of people, that know one knows about, now everything would be destroyed, and there would still be hope." They all looked at me like I was crazy. "What?"

Sokka pointed at me and hid behind his sister's shoulder. "So, you come from a secret tribe that know one knows about?"

"Yeah, pretty much. But you can't tell anyone. Nobody."

"That's cheating," Toph said. "You can't just hide away like that while everyone else has to go through war and suffering."

"Yeah," Sokka said, standing a little straighter.

"Well, um…" I knew what I was going to say, but I couldn't find the strength to get the words out of my mouth.

"It's not her fault," Yoake said, saving me. "It wasn't her plan to like, make sure that the world doesn't get completely destroyed."

"And even if it was her idea, she was saving the world. I mean, think about it. If the war ended badly, we would all be gone. At least there would still be something left." I gave Aang a thankful smile.

"Whatever," Toph said, giving up.

"So, where are you guys headed to?" I asked. "Aren't you supposed to be like, fighting the war or something?"

"We're not quite ready for that," Katara said. "We still need to find Aang a firebending teacher."

"Yoake, if you came with us, you could learn firebending with me!" Aang said, smiling.

"That would be great! But Sylaz would have to come with me."

"So are you guys coming or not?" Toph said, growing impatient.

"Well of course they are!" Sokka said. Everyone looked at him. "What? I just grow tired of you guys sometimes." The lemur threw a nut at his head. Everyone laughed. Sokka scowled.

"Oh, by the way, this is Momo," Aang said, pointing to the lemur. "And that's Appa." The bison rawred, or, whatever it was the sound that flying bison make. "Well, let's go. We got a long way ahead of us."

We flew on Appa above the clouds. This was amazing. I was actually, like, flying.

I was snapped out of my daydreams as Katara attempted to make small talk. "So, have you had experience with waterbending?"

"I've been taught by some people, but I like to just play with it on my own."

"Well, me and Aang just got back from the North Pole, and we could teach you if you'd like."

"Really? That would be great!" She smiled at me.

"Yoake, what about you and firebending?" It was Aang's turn to talk.

"Umm…" She looked unsure. "I don't know a lot, like I said. I mean, I could teach you what I know, but it's not going to be enough to defeat the Fire Lord.

He grinned. "That's okay. I don't know anything." She smiled back at him.

"So, where are we going to go now?" Sokka asked.

"That's what I keep trying to ask!" Toph huffed.

"Well, we don't have a plan right now…." Katara seemed to be thinking. "How about we all go someplace we each want to go?"

"Yeah!" Aang added. "And we might run into something on the way!"

"I like to idea," Yoake said.

"Well, I don't. When I said, 'Where are we going to go' I didn't mean 'Let's go take a vacation' like don't we have better things to do?"

"Okay, Sokka, then what plan do you have?" I protested. Seeming as he didn't have anything, he looked away. "My point exactly."

"So, who's going to go first?" Toph asked. We all looked at each other. I knew where I wanted to go. But I was afraid it would be too much, so I decided to go second.

"I guess I'll go first," Katara volunteered. "I've always wanted to go to a giant waterfall. I mean, think of how beautiful it would look. And I could practice my waterbending, and teach Sylaz." Aang nodded his head, seeming to agree.

"And Yoake can teach me what she knows of firebending." Yoake smiled slightly.

"Okay, so who knows of a giant waterfall?" Toph asked.

"Ooh, I know of one!" Aang said, pulling out his map. "Right….here."

"Well, come on, lets get going then," Sokka said, a bit of anger in his tone. Aang happily flew back on top of Appa's head and urged him onwards.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Here's chapter 3! Sorry the chapters are so short. Ah, well.

Yoake's POV:

"Here we are!" Aang happily presented the waterfall. It was beautiful. Well, for me. The waterfall was at least three times the size of the redwoods surrounding it. There were beautiful orange and purple flowers of a rare design surrounding it. Where the waterfall met the earth again, it flowed into a wide, clear river that contained moss covered rocks. You could hear the frogs and birds that inhabited the site. Beyond the waterfall territory, there was a beautiful forest. I was too stunned to say anything.

Appa, immediately after we landed, 'gracefully' plopped himself into the water, Sylaz close behind him. "Before you guys get too comfortable, I want to show you something. Come on, Sylaz!" Sylaz didn't respond. She was laying on her back in the water, making a water fountain of her mouth. Katara waterbended a giant wave of water and splashed it onto Sylaz. She coughed and sat up.

"Okay, okay! I'm up, I'm up." I hid my laughter. Seeing the smirk on my face, Sylaz retorted, "Shut up Yoake." That made everyone else laugh.

"Follow me," Aang said, walking towards the waterfall. When he got close to it, walked out into the middle of the river, and then-walked into the waterfall.

"He's insane if he thinks I'm going to walk into that thing," Sokka said, taking a step back.

"Oh, come on, stop being a wuss." I grabbed his arm and forced him into the river and then through the waterfall. Katara and Sylaz were close behind. What I saw in there was even more amazing than the waterfall itself.

There was an entire room, carved out from the inside the mountain. In the center was a small pool of water, along with another moss-covered rock. The entire room was decorated with the flowers that we saw outside. A frog sat in there, and when it saw us it croaked and jumped into the pool.

"This is amazing," Katara said. Aang smiled proudly.

"I had an earthbender friend that made this."

"Where does the frog go?" Sokka asked, suspiciously examining the pool of water.

"Oh, the pool leads outside into the river," Aang explained.

"This is so cool," I said.

"I agree," Katara added. "But I think it would be best if I taught Sylaz waterbending outside. Just because there's more room."

"And I don't want to burn down this room," I said.

"Yeah, of course," Aang said, smiling. "I just wanted to show you guys." He led everyone back outside.

I led Aang down the riverbank away from everyone else, so they wouldn't get hurt. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw Katara beginning to show Sylaz waterbending, and Toph showing Sokka her cool earthbending moves. I smiled. everyone was getting along nicely.

When we were far enough away, I began teaching. "So, do you know anything about firebending?" I asked.

"Only that I have to concentrate and breathe, and to make sure it doesn't get out of hand."

"Yeah, that's important." I took a deep breath in. I had no idea how to teach this guy. I guess I should just start with the simplest move that I know. "Okay, just so you know, I don't know anything fancy. Just simple stuff."

"That's fine," he said, encouraging me.

"Okay." I began with taking a deep breath in through my nose and out through my mouth. I placed my hand in front of me, and concentrated where I wanted the fire to go. I pictured it in my mind. It didn't take much before a ball of fire appeared in my hand.

"Woah," Aang said. "How did you do that?"

"The trick is to concentrate on where you want the fire to go. I like to picture it in my mind. You try. First take a deep breath in, then out. Then concentrate." He did as I said, staring at the center of his palm. Nothing happened at first. But then a small flame began to grow.

"I'm doing it!" he shouted.

"Don't lose concentration," I warned. He stayed like that for awhile.

"How do I get rid of it?" he finally asked.

"Same thing as you got it to appear. Just make it poof in your mind."

"Okay." I saw him concentrate, and then the flame just poof away.

"Nice," I said. He smiled proudly. "The next move I know is to shoot it out of your hand." I demonstrated by punching the air, and a blast of fire came out of my fist. "It's the same thing as we did before. Just picture where you want the fire to go, and where you want it to stop." He took a deep breath in, and punched the air. Nothing. He did it again.

"How come it's not working?"

"You just have to concentrate. Were you concentrating?" He didn't respond, which probably meant no. "Just picturing it in your mind won't do anything. You have to concentrate too." He took a deep breath in once more, and punched the air. A wave of fire came out of his fist.

"I did it!" he said, jumping up and down. When he settled down, he asked "Do you know anything else?" Before I could explain that I didn't, I heard Toph's voice behind me.

"And this is how you get people really angry," she said. I heard Sokka snickering.

I turned around just in time to see a rock coming towards my head. Instinctively I closed my eyes and put my hands in front of me. I waited for the impact. But it never came. I barely opened my eyes, one by one, when I saw that the rock had disappeared. Uncovering my face, I saw that everyone was looking at me like I had two heads.

"What?" I asked. Sokka just fainted. "What's going on?"

"You're an earthbender," Toph said.

I laughed. "No I'm not, that's impossible. I can't be a firebender and an earthbender."

"Well you are," Aang said. My eyes widened. I'm an earthbender and a firebender. I left the group to go and talk to Sylaz.

When I got to the other end of the bank, I heard Katara's voice. "You have to move with the water. The water will just follow you." She demonstrated the water whip. Sylaz nodded.

"Hey, I hate to interrupt the lesson, but I really need to talk to Sylaz."

"Hold on, let me just try this move." She raised the water out of the river and was about to do it when I grabbed her arm.

"It's really important."

"Hey!" she shouted as the water dropped to the ground. I dragged her to the waterfall cave.

"I'm an earthbender." She gave me a look.

"No you're not, you're a firebender."

"No, I seriously am an earthbender. I'm both."

"Woah," she said. "That's so cool."

"Yeah, but it's not normal. It's like I'm half an Avatar."

"When are you ever normal?" she said. I shrugged.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. What I would do is choose one of them to show the world so they don't think that you're a freak. Especially bad people. Otherwise, just be you. I mean, it's not going to change how you act or anything."

"Yeah, I guess so." I walked out.

When I got outside I saw Toph, Sokka, and Aang talking to Katara. They probably told her what happened. Please don't say anything, please don't say anything.

"Hey guys," Katara said. "We decided that the next person should choose where we go next. I'm done here." She smiled. Thank god she didn't say anything.

"So, who's going to go next?" Sylaz asked.

"Sokka?" Toph volunteered. At first he didn't say anything, but when everyone started looking at him he put his hands in the air.

"Fine, fine, I might as well get it over with." He walked over to the map Aang was holding, and pointed to a random spot. "There."

"Ooh, I love that place!" Aang said.

"What is it?" Toph asked.

"It's just some small Earth Tribe village. Come on, lets go." He hopped onto Appa. So did everyone else.

A/N: I understand that the secret cave is kind of pointless. But I like secret caves. And, who knows, maybe I'll use it later. :)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Here's Chapter 4! Thanks to bendergurl123 for giving me my first review! I realized that my story was a bit boring at first, but it gets more drama-like now. This is the big part of the story. I just had to make up boring stuff to lead up to it. Without further ado...

Sylaz's POV:

We were just above the ocean. Every once and awhile I would see a fish jump, but nothing much. Nobody talked most of the way. Sokka just had an angry face on. Probably still angry about this whole vacation thing.

"Aang, hurry, hide, there's Zuko's ship!" Katara nervously shouted. Sokka popped up from almost falling asleep, and Toph went to full alert. Aang immediately flew into the nearest cloud.

"Did he see us?" Toph asked.

"I don't think so...he didn't change course."

"Why are you so concerned about Zuko?" I asked. They all gave me a harsh look. "What? Did I miss something?"

"Guys, come down, she nor Yoake know about Zuko," Katara told them. They calmed down. A little. "Zuko's been chasing around Aang, trying to capture him," she explained. "He got banished by his father, and now the only way he could return home is to get Aang. That makes him so much more determined to get him. He's, like, our worst enemy right now."

"Wow, that's pretty deep," Yoake said.

"I think he's gone," Sokka said. Aang told Appa to come out of the cloud, and we continued on.

It wasn't long before we found the little village. It was cute. Perfect size for a small village.

"Here it is!" Aang said. He seemed just as excited as he was when we arrived at the waterfall. "Jari." There were small merchant booths along the side of the streets, along with small houses.

"I love it," I said.

"This place is famous for it's mines," Aang explained, "'Cause, you know, there are a lot of earthbenders."

"Obviously," Sokka pointed out.

We walked along the streets to look at the markets. There were an assortment of fruits, and little knick-knacky thingies. People were carrying around baskets took carry things in. They looked at us as we passed.

"I guess they're not used to visitors," Toph said.  
"Come on, I want to show you guys the mines." Aang walked ahead and showed us the way.

There were filled with tracks that probably belonged to the minecarts. The mine was beautiful, filled with gems that sparkled when the light hit them. Yoake was barely paying attention to anything. She was always one to love shiny things. No one said anything the entire trip, just stared at the walls of the cave.

"How long does this go on for?" someone finally asked. Katara, my guess.

"A really long time," Toph replied. "I can feel it."

Suddenly, there was a boom, and shouts outside in the town. Everyone ran out of the mine. When we stepped out, you couldn't see anything. There was smoke everywhere. I coughed, and covered my mouth. I could barely see.

"Firebenders!" I heard Sokka shout.

"Not just any firebenders." Aang pointed in front of him. Standing there was whom I guessed to be Zuko.

"What are you doing here?!" Katara asked.

"What, you didn't think I'd fall for that 'hide in the cloud' trick, did you?" he said with a smirk. "You're riding a giant flying bison. It's not that hard to see you." Before we could respond, he firebended at our feet. We all jumped back from the heat. He did it again. And again. Eventually we were back in the mine. "I have you surrounded," he said, pointing to the firebenders at his side. No one responded.

As if on cue, we all headed for the door. Running at the same exact time. Zuko and his men firebended at us, making the rocks fall in the mine. Once we were past him, we ran out the entrance. Zuko behind us. But he wasn't fast enough.

The mine collapsed before he could make it out. His men got trapped under. He was half buried. Katara and Yoake were already back in the town, and Sokka and Aang were waiting for me.

"Sylaz, come on!" Sokka urged me. "We have to leave!"

"We can't just leave him here!"

"Yes, we can! Aang, tell her!" Aang took a deep breath in. The smoke was still surrounding us. I could barely breathe.

"Sylaz, we have to leave him," he said as calmly as he could. "You don't know him like I do. He causes destruction. Pain. We have to leave him here. Let's go." He grabbed my arm, but I pulled free.

"No, you go. I'm going to help him." I turned around.

"Sylaz, come on," Aang pleaded.

"Aang, we have to go!" Sokka yelled. "The smoke is too strong! We have to leave now!"

"Sylaz…"

"Aang!" Sokka, frustrated, grabbed Aang's arm and pulled him away.

"Sylaz!" Aang called after me. I didn't listen.

Zuko had pleading eyes on his face at this point. I didn't have water, so I didn't know what to do. I started to perform a waterbending move that I learned from Katara, hoping that I could turn the water vapor around me into liquid water. But the smoke was too strong. There was no water around me. But I did feel something; air. I could use air.

"Grab my ankle," I told Zuko. He gave me a weird look.

"Isn't that-"

"Just do it!" He obeyed. I airbended the rocks from above him back into the cave, and helped him up. He looked at me weird, but didn't say anything. I turned my head to the left, and then to the right.

"Which way did they go again?" I asked.

"I'm pretty sure they went this way," he said. I followed him.

He went to the left.

A/N: Short, but dramatic-ish. Hope you like it! (PS It might not make sense now on what Zuko is doing, but it will make sense later.)


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Yay! More nice reviews! Thanks to everyone that has reviewed my story! Onto Chapter 5!

Katara's POV:

I stood next to Yoake. We looked at each other, wondering the same thing; Where are they? They've been gone for longer than they should've. They should be back by now.

"Do you think someone's in danger?" I asked.

"No," she replied. "Aang's there, right?" I nodded my head. Aang was the Avatar. He'll protect everyone.

I heard footsteps. They're back! I smiled as I saw Sokka step out from the smoke. Then Aang. And then my smile faded.

"Where's Sylaz?" I heard Yoake ask. Aang responded. Sokka looked away.

"I don't know," Aang said. Sokka tried to walk away, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"What happened?" Sokka refused to look me in the eye. Aang told the story.

"She doesn't know Zuko like we do. When he got caught under the rocks-"

"What rocks?" Yoake urged.

"When we firebended at us, the mine collapsed and the rocks fell on him. Sylaz wanted to help, but the smoke was getting too thick, and we tried to persuade her that he was dangerous, but she didn't listen."

"So why did you leave?" Yoake asked.

"Umm…" Aang seemed reluctant to say anything. "Sokka…"

"What about Sokka?"

"He wanted me to get out of there. He was just trying to help me, but-"

"You told him to leave?!" Yoake said, pointing at Sokka. She was yelling now. "You just couldn't of stayed and helped?! What, she's new here so you just leave her to die in the smoke?!"

"I was just trying to protect Aang-"

"She could be dead! You could be responsible for a death right now!"

Sokka didn't answer. He looked away. I didn't know what to say. Aang looked at me, expecting me to do something, but I just shrugged.

"I'm going to look her." Yoake stormed off into the smoke.

"Yoake, wait, it could be dangerous!" Aang said, trying to stop her.

"Like it matters. You didn't care about Sylaz! So why would you care about me? I'm new here, anyhow." Aang stopped protesting, and Yoake walked into the smoke.

"So, what happened here anyway?" Sokka asked, looking at the village. Nothing really happened. Some man was just whining over his cabbages.

"Nothing," I said. "The smoke was probably just a diversion, or something to keep us from getting away right away."

"Probably," he agreed.

"I'm going to look for Yoake and Sylaz," Aang said.

"What? You're not going in there too, are you?" I asked.

"No. I'm going to go above it." He whipped out his glider.

"Okay," I said. He flew away. This would be so much easier if the smoke was gone. Aang was out looking, so there wasn't another powerful source of wind. Nothing was even air related. Momo came from the Air Temple, but he couldn't do anything. Appa-

"Appa!" I shouted. Sokka looked confused. I explained. "Appa can blow the smoke away with his tail!" Nodding his head, he followed me to the flying bison. "Appa, we need your help!" He roared. "Can you blow that smoke away with your tail?" Appa looked over my shoulder at the smoke, then back at me again. He roared again and flew off. Landing on the edge of the fog, he turned around and smashed his tail into the ground, causing the smoke to blow away. Aang was back a few seconds after.

"Appa!" he said, hugging him. "How come I didn't think of that?" I laughed as Appa licked him.

"Wait, won't Yoake be blown away? And Sylaz if she's still in there?" Sokka looked concerned.

"Well, lets go look for them then! It'll be a lot easier, considering that Aang can now see from the sky, and we can search."

"Good point." Aang flew off once again and me and Sokka searched the ground. It wasn't long before we heard a shout from Aang. We quickly followed.

When we got to where he was standing, Yoake was sitting there, rubbing the back of her head.

"What was that for?"

"I didn't mean to hurt you, just blow the smoke away."

"You did that?"

"Umm..well, no. Appa did."

"Oh." We stood there. Except for Yoake. She sat.

I knew from the looks on their faces that we were all thinking the same thing. We all had no idea what to do. Sylaz got captured. And now, nothing.

Sylaz's POV:

I followed him through the smoke. I had no idea where we were going. For all I know, we could be going in the opposite direction. I should've looked to see which direction Aang and Sokka were going in. Well, too late now.

We ended up on a beach. This was not town. I knew that much. We went in the wrong direction. Zuko rubbed his head.

"This is the wrong direction….I'm sorry," he apologized to me.

"That's okay, I wouldn't of figured it out myself," I reassured him. "So, should we look for my friends?"

"Well, they're not exactly my friends," he said. "But I can help you look for them."

"Okay!" I replied, and skipped away. He breathed deeply and followed.

I walked ahead of him for a couple minutes. This island was pretty small; I don't know why it was taking us this long to find the village. I heard a giant wind blow in the distance, but it didn't affect me. After awhile, I figured we were walking in the wrong direction. I stood in one spot and waited for Zuko to catch up to me.

"I think we're walking in the wrong direction," I said when he caught up.

"You could be right….but I feel like going in this direction would be best. Why don't we walk this direction for a couple more minutes, then turn around. Besides, this island is pretty small. We'll end up all the way around eventually."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." I've never been here before, but I was almost positive that Zuko knew more about this place than I do. I continued to walk in the same direction.

It's been a long time, and I still didn't see anything; or anyone, for that matter. I was just going to tell Zuko that we better turn around, when I heard something. Like, a moan. But it was animal-like. And it sounded really familiar. I turned around to ask Zuko what that might be, when I saw it. Flying right behind him. Away from us.

Appa.

A/N: I like dramatic stuff, don't you?


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Chapter 5! I honestly don't know what to say, soo..Chapter 5!

Yoake's POV:

I couldn't believe that Sokka would just leave her like that. What a jerk. We were sitting in an awkward silence, none of us knew what to do.

"Where would Zuko take her?" Katara asked.

"I don't know," I said. It was the truth.

"My guess," Sokka answered, "is that he's going to try and use her as bait to get the Avatar. So don't fall for his little tricks." Everyone just nodded their heads in agreement.

"Should we go check the village one more time?" Toph asked.

"Yeah." I stood up, rubbing my head. I hit it against a rock before. I followed everyone back to town.

We split up, each of us asking people if they saw Sylaz. None of them even knew who she was. We probably should've talked to more people when we came here, so they would recognize us at least.

Disappointed, I went back to Appa and leaned against his head. "What are we going to do?" I asked. He roared and licked me. I smiled, despite the situation.

Everyone else eventually came back to Appa.

"Did you find her?" I asked. They shook their heads.

"I say we try to follow them," Aang said. "Zuko has a smoke trail, right? It probably won't be too hard to spot, and Sylaz will be on the ship. It's all we got." There wasn't another way.

Instead of answering, we all just climbed onto Appa. Momo landed on my shoulder. I forgot he was here. He probably stayed behind to keep Appa company.

Aang flew Appa off the island. I sighed. I really hope we find Sylaz.

We flew for hours. There was nothing out here. Just ocean. I wondered what Sylaz was doing right now. What if she was in a jail cell? In chains? I shuddered at the thought.

"Do you know where we are?" Toph asked. Sokka flipped the map upside down, and then back up again.

"Umm….yes?" he said doubtfully. Toph sighed.

"What does it matter where we are?" Aang said. "We're just looking for a smoke trail, remember? No specific destination."

"But you would think that it would be helpful if we had a plan," I added, a little more harshly than I meant. No one responded, thankfully. If that had, it probably wouldn't have been pretty.

Nothing much happened after that. Just flying. For days.

And days.

Sylaz's POV:

Appa was flying away. How could they just leave the island like that? Did they know I was still on it? I was too stunned to do anything, so I just dug my knees into the sand and stared at Appa. I was stuck here. There was no way out now.

Zuko, looking confused, turned around to see what I was looking at. He saw Appa too. He laid a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I can get you out of here on my ship, if you'd like."

"Okay," I said. I knew I shouldn't trust Zuko. I didn't know why I said yes. I shouldn't be doing this. Why am I doing this?

I followed him around the island until I saw a ship, made out of metal. It was way too easy to tell that it was Fire Nation. Zuko went in front of it, and a little bridge leading into the ship came out of the front. I followed him into it.

I started think that I shouldn't of followed him onto here. What if this was a trick? What if I never got out of here? What if he sold me to the Fire Nation? It was really dark, and I could barely see. I jumped when I heard the bridge behind us close up. I almost fell when we came to a staircase. I became aware of everything, memorizing every entrance, every door, every hallway. I would need to figure out how this ship worked if I wanted to get out of here.

Eventually we made it to the ship deck. I walked over to the edge, to see that we hadn't started moving yet. We were still on the beach. I could jump off right now. But I didn't. I didn't know what was holding me back. I could be a prisoner right now, so why won't I get out of here?

Before I could make up my mind, I heard a horn blow and we started to move. I quietly cursed myself for not escaping.

I almost died of a heart attack when I felt a hand rest on my arm, only to realize that it was Zuko. "I want you to meet someone," he said. I nodded against my consent. What am I doing? I shouldn't be here. What if he took me to the Fire Lord? Is the Fire Lord on this ship?

I followed him down a hallway. It was brighter in here, with the torches to lead the way. There were metal doors on each wall, and every once and a while a guard would pass and give me a strange look. I just gave a small smile back.

Eventually we Zuko stopped in front one of the doors. He opened it and motioned for me to go in. Why doesn't he go in first? Is this my new cell?

For some crazy reason I went in. It looked like a normal room. Well, a normal Fire Nation room at least. There was a man sitting in a chair on one side. He looked a lot older than Zuko was. Is he a prisoner too? Maybe the Fire Nation liked fancy cells. I wouldn't mind it.

He gave me a smile when he saw me. "Sylaz!" I gave a look of confusion. Seeing my face, he laughed. "Zuko told me all about you." I was still confused. When did Zuko tell this man about me? Wasn't he with me the entire time? Then it hit me that Zuko wasn't on deck while I was looking at the beach. I smiled slightly. "I'm Iroh," he said. "Zuko's uncle."

"H-hi," I said shyly. I guess he wasn't a prisoner.

"So, I hear you're an airbender." More confusion. Wasn't I a waterbender? But I freed Zuko with air. So, I'm a waterbender and an airbender. Like Yoake. Except she's fire and earth. But these people are from the Fire Nation. They can't know that I'm both.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm just trying to look for my friends."

"Yes, I've heard that you've been separated." Is there anything this man doesn't know? "Would you like some tea?"

"No, thanks," I replied. "I'm not a big fan of tea." He looked surprised and disappointed, but quickly hid it.

"There's a guest room down the hall to the right, if you would like some privacy," he said.

"Thanks," I said. I left.

Why would Zuko want me to meet his uncle? It doesn't make sense. Nothing makes sense here. I just want to go back to my friends.

I went to the room Iroh was talking about and plopped myself onto the bed. What were they planning on doing to me? I just wanted this to be over soon.

I was woken up a few hours later by the noise coming from my stomach. I didn't realize that I fell asleep. All I knew right now is that I was really hungry.

I stumbled outside and dragged myself down the hallway. I was too drowsy to even think about where I was going. Just hoping that I would eventually get somewhere.

After a couple minutes, I began to wake up more. Only to find out that I had no idea where I was. I listened to see if I could hear anything, but there was nothing. I tried to backtrack my steps, but I couldn't remember where I've been. I was lost.

I gripped my stomach as it growled again. I really need food right now. I walked for awhile. Then began running. I was desperate to get out of here.

I ran until I was out of breath. I leaned against the wall and sat down. I closed my eyes. I wasn't tired, but I needed to rest. My thoughts drifted, until….I heard something. The ocean. I heard the ocean.

Wide awake, I stood up and started running towards the sound. I could find my way out of here. I could finally arrive on deck, and get fresh air.

I came to an immediate stop when I reached a door. Not thinking straight, I burst through it. As soon as I did, I realized I shouldn't have.

Zuko was in there, sleeping. Before I even had time to sense what was going on, I ran out the door and slammed it behind me. I held my breath, hoping he hadn't heard. I didn't hear him, so I assumed that he hadn't woken up. I sighed in relief. That would've been really weird.

I turned my head to see Iroh standing at the end of the hallway. I smiled innocently.

"Is he okay?" Iroh asked. "I was just coming to check on him."

"Um, yeah, he's good," I said hesitantly. He must've heard.

"I was going to ask him if he wanted to come join our music night. Would you like to come instead?" He looked hopeful. I really didn't want to go to some 'music night', but I needed to get out of here. Plus I didn't want to let him down.

"Sure," I said. I followed him to the deck.

It was night. I have been sleeping all day. Now what am I going to do for the entire night? I wasn't tired anymore. Just hungry. Still hungry.

There were a group of people sitting on flipped boxes and small chairs. A lot of them had instruments in their hands. Some of them didn't. I assumed they were singers.

Iroh went and sat down on a metal chair. He held up an instrument to me.

"Do you know how to play the erhu?" he asked me, gesturing to the instrument. "I've been trying to convince Zuko to play it, but he won't give in." I stared at the two stringed wooden box.

"Actually, I do," I said, taking to box and the bow. "One of my friends got this, from, uh…" I forgot this was a Fire Nation instrument. How was I going to explain that I knew how to play it? I couldn't say that Yoake gave it to me, because that would mean confessing her a traitor. "Before the war started, my ancestors had friends of the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation people gave an instrument, like this one, to my ancestors. It eventually got passed down to me. I taught myself how to play it." I smiled innocently.

"Ooh," Iroh said. "Those days, huh?" He looked to be daydreaming about 'those days', which didn't make sense. He couldn't of possibly lived 100 years ago. I knew he was really old, but not that old.

One of the guys in the band got his attention, and he snapped back to reality. When he started playing, I just followed his lead. We played for about an hour.

A/N: Just so you know, my updates might take a bit longer from here on out, because it's not pre-typed anymore. So, longer waits...sorry...


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Just so you all know, the last Chapter was Chapter 6, not Chapter 5. Sorry about that. Typo.

Sylaz's POV:

I stood at the edge of the boat, looking out to sea. The moon was bright, and it was clear. I could name half the constellations up there. We ended 'music night' about an hour and a half ago. I've been standing here since.

I wasn't exactly sure what my plan was. Was Zuko actually trying to help me find my friends? Or is this just a trick? I'm still not sure if I can even trust him. Should I run? Or should I stay to see if it's worth it?

I sighed. There was so much on my mind. I could hardly handle it. I wondered what Yoake and the other's were doing. Hopefully having a better time than I was. I didn't want to sleep, I wasn't tired. I just stood there.

I heard footsteps, and turned around to see Zuko. "What are you doing out here? Aren't you cold?" he asked. I shrugged. I was never really one to be cold.

"Weren't you sleeping?" I asked.

"I was woken up when someone ran into my room."

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry about that." He rolled his eyes.

"I was joking. You take things too seriously."

"Not all the time," I said. "I am on some Fire Nation ship, after all." His smile faded.

"I will help you find your friends, I promise," he said, in a persuading tone. Now it was my turn to roll my eyes.

"Yeah, okay." I turned back to the ocean.

"Hey." He walked in front of me and looked me in the eye. "You can trust me."

"Okay," I said softly. I saw a tear fall to the floor beneath my feet. I was crying. Why am I crying? Before I could stop it, I found myself trying to choke down a sob. I miss my friends. My family. I just want to go home.

Zuko wrapped his arms around me and placed his chin on the top of my head. I leaned against his shoulder. I closed my eyes.

I don't remember anything after that.

I woke up in my room. I don't remember falling asleep. I must've, though, because now I was here.

I yawned and rubbed my eyes. I was really hungry now. I forgot to ask Iroh last night if there was food. My stomach was growling beyond control. I needed food. Now.

I ran out the door and was about to run for my life when I remembered what happened last time. So I took it slow. Right. Then left. Another left. Another right. It wasn't long before I heard footsteps. I smiled. I was definitely getting better at this.

Zuko was just around the corner. "Hey," he said. "I was just coming to get you. We just stopped to get breakfast, and I thought you might be hungry." I smiled.

"Yeah. A little." Lies.

I ran up to walk beside him, and then started to walk. I had to restrain myself from sprinting down the hallway. I needed to know where I was going. I took note of all the turns 'n' stuff so I would know how to come this way next time.

When we came to the bridge that lead outside, I saw Iroh and the other ship crew members waiting for us. He waved at me when he saw me, and I waved back. "So, where are we going to eat?" I asked Zuko on our way down the bridge.

"I don't know. My uncle said he knew a place, so I'm just kind of trusting him right now."

I followed Zuko and his uncle down a long isle of shops and markets. It was similar to the small Earth Kingdom village, but more busy. When people passed us, they didn't even notice that there was Fire Nation right under their noses. I saw Zuko say something to his uncle. Iroh nodded, and took a turn. I continued to follow.

We came to a clothing store. I resisted the urge to scream. I was so hungry, I could hardly take it. And I thought I was hungry before. "What are we doing here?" I asked Zuko, trying not to sound angry.

"We need some new clothes. Anyone can recognize us here with our Fire Nation clothing on." I nodded. "And I thought you could use some new clothes too." I looked down at my clothes. I completely forgot that I was still wearing my Southern Water Tribe clothing. How did Zuko not realize that I was an airbender, but I was wearing water tribe clothing?

"Yeah, I seriously need to get out of this costume," I said. More lies. He simply smiled.

I followed him into the store and walked towards the girl's section, leaving them to do their own thing. Some lady walked up to me and asked me if I needed help. I said no.

I wandered past the wall of clothing. I needed something perfect. Something I won't regret. I found a white shirt. It was short sleeved, but the sleeves weren't connected to the actual shirt. Well, they were, but barely, so my shoulders showed. The rest of it flowed down almost to my knees. The red tights I picked out went down the my ankles, and I finished the look by adding white shoes that slipped on my feet easily.

Feeling satisfied, I looked at myself in the mirror. I noticed that my hair was knotty since I last tended to it, which was- well, I don't know when it was. I brushed it out, and put it into a side braid. There. Satisfied.

I walked over over to see how Zuko was doing, and saw him in just normal clothing. He looked really uncomfortable. His uncle, on the other hand, looked as cheerful as he always was. I laughed, seeing their differences.

"What?" Zuko asked, annoyed, but I could tell he regretted it. When he saw me, he stood up from his slouch on the wall and looked at me like I was some hidden treasure he just found.

"You like it?" I asked.

"I love it," he said. I felt my face turn pink so I looked away.

"Your outfit looks pretty shnazzy as well," I said.

"Oh, really? Well I hate it." I laughed again. He smiled.

A/N: I know it's short, but I haven't been writing lately, because I was busy and stuff. Good enough, right?


	8. The Small Chapter

A/N: Okay, this is a _really_ tiny chapter. But it's the end of this 'part', so it would be difficult to make it differently...

We were sitting in the restaurant. I was trying to hide my smirk as Zuko started mumbling about how much he hated his outfit. When the food finally came out, I had to resist myself from diving into it. Trying to look "proper", I picked up my chopsticks and ate the chicken pieces. It might of been a little weird though, since I had four meals.

"Hungry?" Zuko asked me. I looked down at my plate, then up at him.

"Umm...yeah. I guess." He rolled his eyes and looked away.

When we were all done, I followed him back to the ship. I stood on the edge of the boat, like I always do, looking at the ocean. It was around 12, and I was wide awake. I sensed that Zuko was standing behind me.

"You like that spot, don't you?" he asked. I just nodded. "I always loved the ocean too." He came and stood next to me. I leaned my head on his shoulder. He leaned his head on my head.

For that moment there, I forgot he was evil.

A/N: Like I said, teeny tiny.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I've been busy with other things lately... Again really sorry!

It's been about a week since I've seen my friends. All that time, out on the ocean, searching. We saw nothing. There was nothing out there.

Through all of that time, I've been so stupid. So pathetic. How I couldn't of thought of this before. How have I not thought of this before? Our searching could've been over a week ago, yet my head's been so blocked I couldn't think straight. My home. I could go home. Yoake could be searching there, right now, so why wasn't I there? I should be going home. And I only thought of this now.

I was about to go tell Zuko that I wanted to go home, when I felt his arms slide around me. I leaned my head on his chest.

"Can I go home?" I asked him. He already knew that I could waterbend. And that I was from the South Pole. It was kind of hard to hide.

He let go of me and turned to face me. "Like, your South Pole home?"

"Yeah. That one." He looked away to think for a second.

"Yeah. I don't see why not."

Yoake's POV:

We've been up searching for Sylaz for almost a week now. There's been nothing. Where would Zuko of taken her? There was nowhere for her to go, except-

Home. She could've gone home. But Zuko wouldn't of allowed her to do that, I mean, she is his prisoner. But I guess it's worth a look.

"Hey, guys, you want to go to the South Pole?" They have me a look.

"Why would we want to go there?" Toph asked. "Zuko wouldn't allow it."

"I know, but I just want to check. And if anything, we can tell her parents that she's okay. They're probably worried."

"But she's not okay," Aang said. "She's with Zuko." I looked away. He was right. She wasn't okay.

"I still want to check," I said.

"Okay."

Sylaz's POV:

We flew to the South Pole. I had to show everyone where her secret village was, because, you know. It's secret.

It's a small village, but it's nice. Quiet. Peaceful. Nothing becomes disturbed. I came here all the time. Before I ended up in the canyon.

As soon as we arrived, I saw Sylaz's mom. She was carrying a bucket of fish. I waved when I saw her. She didn't seem happy to see me, though.

As soon as she saw me, she dropped the bucket she was carrying and ran into the nearest home. Others followed her lead.

"What are they doing?" Katara asked.

"I don't know." Soon, the entire village was deserted. It went from everyone, to no one. In 10 seconds flat. Aang almost went to talk to someone, but I stopped him.

"There's probably a reason they don't want to see us," I said. He looked doubtful, but agreed.

We stood there. It wasn't long before I heard something. A ship. A giant, metal, ship. I knew one when I heard one.

I turned to see a Fire Nation ship coming towards the village. But it was Zuko's ship. And Sylaz was on it. On deck. Waving at us. Smiling. She was the happiest I've ever seen her.

But Zuko was there, too. Hugging her.

I ran down the bridge onto the shore, the happiest I've ever been in my entire life. I would finally get to see my friends again. After a very long week, I could finally see my friends again.

I was dragging Zuko behind me, although he had a hard time keeping up. When we were almost 20 feet away I let go of his hand and sprinted towards Yoake. I practically jumped on her, I was so happy. I refused to let go of the hug I had placed on her. She didn't seem happy, though. She didn't hug me back. Instead, she pushed me behind her in a protective way and stared at Zuko.

"What did you do to her?" Yoake demanded. Everyone else was giving him the same look. Stunned, he choked up on his words and nothing came out.

"He didn't do anything," I said, pushing myself past Yoake. "He helped me get through it. I was so worried when I got separated from you guys!" Now they were giving me strange looks.

"When we got separated?" Sokka asked. "No, he captured you!" My turn to give funny looks.

"No he didn't, we got separated. How would you know, you weren't even there?" He didn't respond, which shows that I won the small argument. "He helped me find you guys." I grasped his hand and leaned my head on his shoulder. "He's good now."

"Do you know what he's done to us?" Katara said sternly. "He chased us around the world. He destroyed villages. He's been wrecking our lives ever since he knew that Aang was alive. Even before then"

"I've changed, though." Zuko finally stepped up. He seemed to of found his voice. "Sylaz helped me realize that you can have more than one life. That you can start over." He looked at me, and didn't say anything more.

"He's coming with us," I stated. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. Sokka fainted.

"Are you insane?" Yoake said, angry now. "He almost killed us, and now you want to take him with us?" I glared at her.

"Yes. And if he can't come, I'm not coming either."

Now it seemed like I was hated by everyone. No one said anything, just stared at me like I was from another planet or something. I didn't know what to say. Yoake looked away, and it seemed like she was thinking.

"She's coming with us," she finally stated. "Zuko too."

I was stunned. Happy, but stunned. I didn't think anyone would actually let him come. "I don't want to lose Sylaz again," Yoake explained. No one else said anything.

"Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod thank you thank you thank you!" It seemed I couldn't say it enough. I jumped on Yoake, again, and basically proved I was the happiest person in the world. She rolled her eyes, and I dragged Zuko to Appa.

"Well?" I asked. Everyone followed me. Katara had to kick Sokka in order to get him awake again. He stumbled along, and practically fainted again when he found out Zuko was coming with us. He tried to protest, but found that it was useless.

I looked in the sky. Sunset. We would have to set up camp soon. It wasn't until we left until I realized that we were just at my home. My family.

But I was too excited to notice.

We found camp in a forest next to a river. It was too dark at this point to even bother making a fire, so we just pulled out our sleeping bags and went to sleep. I tried to sleep as close as I could to Zuko, while everyone else went as far away from him as possible. I didn't care, though.

When I woke up the next day, everyone was still sleeping just where they were before. Nothing changed. I stood up and walked out to the riverbank. The water was calm. I sat down and watched the sun slowly rise. I wasn't long before I heard grumbling behind me, and words that sounded something like

"Damn twigs….argh….stupid sunshine….sunshine is evil…" I laughed.

"Yoake, why did you come out here if you would be so angry?" I said.

"Because I needed to talk to you." She emerged out of the bushes. "Are you sure about this? This whole, Zuko thing?"

I sighed. "Yoake, he's changed. I swear."

"I know, you said that before, but it might just be a trick." I really didn't want to talk about this right now, so I stood up and walked to stand next to a tree. Finding that it was climbable, I reached up and grabbed the first branch closest to me and pulled myself up. "Sylaz, I'm just trying to do what's best for you."

"I know, but you just have to trust me on this one. You weren't on that ship with him for an entire week. You didn't see him change the way I did. He's different now. I promise." Yoake turned away, looking unsatisfied.

"Yeah, okay."

"Okay, how about this," I said, trying to prove my point. "How about we all go out to dinner? As one big, happy family." Yoake gave me a funny look.

"Out to dinner? With him? I don't think the others will like that too much."

"Come on, pleeeeease?" Yoake sighed.

"Fine. I'll talk with everyone else." I climbed down the tree to the bottom to help Yoake talk with everyone else.

The others weren't too happy with the idea, except Zuko, who thought that this was his time to shine or whatever.

A/N: Still really sorry for the long wait!


	10. Chapter 10

Everyone eventually agreed that we should have a group dinner, in the end.

No one knew what to do for the rest of the day. I tried to convince Aang that Zuko could teach him firebending, but Aang kept on saying he was too tired. I wanted him to learn firebending as soon as possible, so I pushed. He needed a teacher, after all. He still refused. Then I started to get angry. About how he couldnt be this self-serving. After a couple minutes of arguing, Aang left. He took a walk into the woods. Katara, giving me an angry look, stormed after him, attempting to make peace. Yoake kind of gave me an, look. I glared at her. I was really trying to make things better. Not worse.

I decided to take a hike too. Away from these people. Zuko offered to come, but I told him to stay here. I wanted to see how Yoake would react.

After walking far enough so they couldns branches were lined up with the one I was standing on. I smiled. I never really jumped from tree to tree before, but theret enough to get a grip. I widened my eyes as I realized that I didnthumpt notice me, so I decided to eavesdrop.

Although, there wasns face. She had a look of anger, from the way Zuko was acting to her response. Seeing her angry look, Zuko immediately wiped that smirk off his face. Which probably was a good idea. But then Yoake started to laugh too. Not because of her, but because she made just the kind of impression that she would want on Zuko. Tough, and feared.

re crazy,Speak for yourself,Now what?What do you mean?What is everyone else going to think about this?Wait, you

**I resisted the urge to go , for fear that my hiding place would be discovered. I left the camp, leaving those two to mingle on about whatever they wanted. **

**I took a walk through the woods, trying to figure out what to do next. There was nothing to do out here, so I just walked. And walked. And walked. Until dinner came. **

**A/N: Here you go! I've been kinda busy, so I won't be updating as much...**


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